Alice in the Zaizen Household
by Keirrot
Summary: A new addition has been added to the Zaizen family, and she's adorable. These are the stories of her time with the household, especially that Zaizen Hikaru and the people around him.
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer :** I do not own Prince of Tennis. The series belongs to Konomi Takeshi. Nor do I own this upcoming bit from Soul Calibur.

* * *

 **Guess Who**

 _'Do we have to fight?'_

 _'Yeah, I guess we do.'_

 _Hiya!_

 _Swoosh_

 _Shiiiinng_

"Damn it!"

 _Ha!_

 _Ah!_

 _'Fall... Crescent moon!'_

"Almost there..."

 _Hau!_

 _Slash_

 _Shing Shing_

 _E.I.N! Come._

"No, no, nooo!"

 _Ziiiiiing_

 _Slash Slash_

 _Swoosh_

 _Pew pew_

"You're dead. You're dead, you're dead, yo—"

 _'Time for bed. Now sleep forever.'_

"—YES!"

 _'You're better than this...'_

 _EXCELLENT_

"I WIN YOU BAG OF BITCHES!"

 _'Z.W.E.I. wake up.'_

"Viola, babe, let him sleep."

The genius boy of Shitenhouji grinned at the character on the screen, content with his victory.

He was left alone at home while his older brother and his family were having an outing. Their parents were away on vacation for a month. It started off as a quiet and relaxing afternoon, just the way he liked it.

 _Bang!_

"We're back!"

Hikaru heard Naoki yelling from the front door. He sighed and shut off the game console. _There goes my peaceful day._

He lazily made his way into the living room as a tiny figure ran up to him holding a blanket in his arms. "Ji-san~!"

"Ah, be careful!" Ayano, his sister-in-law, shouted to her son before walking up the stairs.

His nephew appeared to be overjoyed about something for he was bouncing the whole time, wearing a grand smile. He explained to his uncle what he did today, where they went, and what they saw. When the little boy took a breather, Hikaru ruffled his hair and finally asked, "So, what have you got there?" Pointing to the bundle still in his arms. The boy's artichoke eyes lit up and he eagerly removed the top of the blanket. "Alice!"

Hikaru stared at the snow white puffball that was unveiled.

"Alice?" He raised a brow and turned to his brother. "You got him a bunny?"

"Yeah! Why not?" Naoki slung an arm around him, grinning ear to ear.

Hikaru felt his annoyance level rising and ducked out of the embrace. "Don't touch me."

"Oh come on Hika-chan!"

The boy glared at him. "And don't call me _that_."

"Don't be like that!" The older whined, feigning hurt. "Love me~!"

The younger grabbed a cushion from the sofa and threw it at him. "You're just as gross as Koharu-senpai and Yuuji-senpai."

Little Hotaru ignored his father and uncle like always and continued to pet the bunny. A few thrown items and a punch later, the siblings calmed down. His father walked over rubbing his aching cheek and knelt down beside him. "Why don't you let your ji-san hold her?"

Hotaru nodded and walked towards Hikaru who, might I add, had the fireplace poker in hand in case his brother dared to approach. "Meet ji-san... again!"

He held Alice up to him. "Do you want to hold her?"

The bunny blinked at the tensai, stretching one of her paws out as if to say hello. Sighing as he put the poker back, Hikaru smiled softly at both child and animal. "Give her here."

She practically jumped out of Hotaru's arms into Hikaru's. He released a breath of relief as he barely caught her in time.

"I think she likes you!" Naoki exclaimed, his shamrock eyes gleaming.

"Obviously." Hikaru smirked, gently stroking Alice who now snuggled up against him. "Everything likes me better than you."

"Bitch..." He muttered in response.

"No cussing." No one even heard Ayano enter the room. Naoki tittered as she was next to him for who knows how long. Her cerise irises were narrowed on him.

"I love you; don't hurt me!" He pleaded. "The brat's done enough!"

Said brat rolled his eyes. "You're such a pain in the a—"

"Alice~!"

They turned their gaze to the child that had his hands in the air out of pure joy. He giggled happily and smiled at them. "What?"

The three looked at each other and laughed.

Hikaru held the bunny up to eye-level; his viridian eyes meeting emerald. _Interesting..._

"Welcome to the family, Alice."

* * *

Early the next morning, Hikaru was awoken by the sound of thumping against his door and muffled voices. He groggily rubbed his eyes wondering what the hell anyone would want with him at this hour. It was—he looked at the clock—It wasn't even time for him to get up. Morning practice wasn't for another hour or so. Pissy from the sudden wake-up call, he tried to go back to sleep. A few minutes past, the thumping had returned. He let out a groan, getting up and dragging his feet to the door.

* * *

Alice observed her surroundings after waking up from her slumber. Dawn was breaking through and she was ready to explore again, bouncing around in the cage. Her impatient jumping made the boy across the room stir. She calmed herself down before it became a problem. She watched him toss and turn, then he threw off the blanket. "I'm up!"

He rolled out of bed full of energy and hurried up to the cage.

"Good morning Alice!" His dark hair stuck out everywhere.

She nodded in response, much to his delight. Hotaru opened up the cage and she hopped out. He picked her up and went to wash his face. Alice sat on the cabinet waiting for him.

"My, my someone is up early." Ayano stood at the doorway with a loving smile.

"Mama!" Hotaru hugged his mother. "Good morning."

She patted his head then looked at Alice and did the same. "Ready for breakfast?"

At that, Alice jumped down and skipped out the door, following the sound of Hotaru's giggles as if they lit up the dim hallway.

"Should I wake ji-san up?" the boy asked as they walked by his door.

"Later, if he doesn't get up on his own."

"Okay~"

The mother and son duo went down the stairs and into the kitchen, but Alice had other ideas. She went past Hikaru's door only to slide to a halt and turn back around. Up on her hind legs, she began pawing at his door.

 _Thump thump thump_

In the kitchen, Hotaru heard the knocking. He looked behind him to confirm his suspicion; as he thought, no bunny had followed. Ayano was too focused on taking out ingredients to hear a thing. She turned to find him staring at the ceiling with an amused expression. Then she heard the thumping, looked up, and sighed. "You should go get her before Hikaru gets angry."

Hotaru nodded, giggling as he skipped merrily but _slowly_ about his way.

Ayano sweatdropped, not sure whether her son was happy to fetch the critter or get his uncle angry.

* * *

Alice continued knocking until someone picked her up. "Keep doing that and he might kick you upon opening the door."

The bunny looked up at the person and snuggled against them. Naoki grinned at her attempt to jump out of his arms after the display of affection. "Want to make trouble, don't ya?"

"Morning papa!"

"Hm, morning kiddo. I don't suppose you came back up here just to say that."

"Nope!" Hotaru honestly spoke while shaking his head.

"Aww, papa's hurt." His father wiped a fake tear. "Well, let's go get breakfast; I smell eggs."

They were mid-way down the stairs when Alice managed to get free, leaving the small boy toppled over his father on the staircase.

* * *

 _Thump thump thump_

The first time she did it, nothing. This time, however, she heard movement behind the door. Once the doorknob jiggled, she stopped. Without a moment to spare, it swung open revealing a clearly agitated Hikaru.

"What the hell do—!"

Noticing no one there made him hold his tongue. He glanced both ways down the hall then ran a hand through his spiky, raven black hair, letting out a frustrated sigh. Suddenly he felt something soft against his leg which startled him and looked downwards... _Of fucking course._ " **You**."

Growling as he picked her up, he held her close to his face; so close that he could almost feel her fur tickling him. His eyes, sharp and intense, bore into her very soul...but Alice ignored the deadly aura coming from the teen and licked his nose. He blinked once— _lick_ —twice— _lick_ —three times before admitting defeat. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stay mad. "You're lucky you're cute."

* * *

 **Author's Note :** It's been a long time since I've updated or wrote/typed anything new on FF. Ideas have been blooming in my head for a few series so I thought I'd run with this story first. Apologies if Zaizen (or everyone soon to come) is a little OOC. Also, eye color thing; I know his eyes are dark green in the anime so I went with viridian which is a little darker than emerald depending on shade and varies. Artichoke is a color...a greyish-greenish color. Hotaru's eyes are a mixture of his parents. I tried guys. Lol

Any criticism for improvement is welcome! :3


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary : **The boys want to know the identity of Alice and Koishikawa has déjà of the time they tried to get Zaizen to join the club.

* * *

 **A Girlfriend? A Genius?**

 _A nap in the library wouldn't be so bad._ Hikaru thought as he reached the school gates. _I'll probably do that at lunch._

"Yo, Zaizen!" Bleached blonde hair alongside silver appeared in his line of view.

"Ken—" Hikaru yawned. "—ya senpai, Buchou..."

Kenya patted his back. "Gaming all night?"

"Must of." Shiraishi answered instead, planning to give their kouhai a lecture on the importance of sleep for good health.

"Kenya-senpai, you and I both know that _you_ were online too." Hikaru stated as a matter of fact. "Why? Because _you_ were the one that told me to get my ass on."

The Naniwa Speed Star laughed nervously at the glare Shiraishi was giving.

"But no, that's not it." Hikaru interrupted them before Kenya made a break for it. "Alice woke me up."

"Oh." They chimed together as their kouhai walked ahead.

.

.

.

"Alice?!"

* * *

During lunch, the seniors huddled together on the rooftop while Hikaru stuck to his idea of taking a nap.

"Ne, ne is it true?!" Koharu was frantic. "Hikaru-kyun has a girlfriend?! I thought we had something special!"

He began weeping on the ground dramatically.

"I love you Koharu!" Yuuji shouted while holding him.

"Yuuji~!"

"Koharu~!"

"Yuuji~!"

The other boys ignored their antics.

"Anyways," Kenya straightened up in excitement. "Let's go see who this lucky girl is!"

"Does she even go here?" Shiraishi put a hand to his chin. "I don't think there's an Alice running around Shitenhouji."

His friend thought for a moment. "We should tail him or some—."

"Doubt that's a good idea. Besides, he'll probably tell us eventually."

"Oi Koishikawa, how long have you been here?"

"I was always here..." A cloud of depression hung over the vice-captain.

"S-Sorry."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"We should get him to tell us!" Koharu suggested.

"Or we could just ask him."

"Koishikawa, come on! Where's your sense of adventure?!"

"I'll go first!" Yuuji volunteered.

"Wah~ so brave~!"

Agreeing on the order of who goes after the failure, everyone ran off leaving their vice-captain alone.

"But...isn't this like the time we tried to get him to join the club...?"

A yawn caught his attention as he looked to the source. "Hey Chitose."

The boy at the door lazily ran a hand through his hair. "Hey, did I miss something?"

* * *

Yuuji entered the library as the others stood outside. He went past the book shelves to the tables, scanning the area until he spotted a familiar figure.

"I found you." He cautiously tiptoed over to the boy.

At the back of the library sat a sleeping tensai, face buried in his arms as he slept. His music blasted in his ears making him oblivious to the approaching footsteps. Yuuji stood over him, taking one of his earbuds out.

"Psssss, Hikaru."

The boy moved a bit.

"Hika-chan~"

"Che...go away..."

"Hika-chan!" Yuuji hissed a bit louder.

His whole body jumped up from the fright as he now stared at the other. "What do you want senpai?!"

The librarian sent a glare their way, hushing them before returning to whatever she was doing.

Hikaru cleared his throat and repeated the question in a quieter tone. An annoyed expression surfaced when Yuuji grinned widely. "What?"

"Well you know, as your senpai I worry about you."

"And?"

"If there's something you want to talk about, like a problem or a _girl_ you like, you can talk to me or the others."

"There's no such thing."

"But you seem so tired today~!"

"I'm always tired."

"More than usual!"

"I'm going to have to ask you two to leave!"

"Shhh! This is a library!"

Hikaru could only stare dumbfounded as Yuuji was picked up by the librarian and dropped outside. Then she turned around and walked towards him.

"Do I need to do the same with you?"

"No ma'am."

* * *

"I can't believe all of you just left me there!" Yuuji accused the others. They all gestured to him sympathetically. Man, the librarian sure can be scary.

The bell signaled lunch was over and the group went to their classes after assigning their next go-getter: Koharu. He went to find the target during a passing period. Much to his delight, he spotted him rather quickly.

"Hikaru-kyun~!"

Hikaru swiftly moved out of the way as his elder dove straight for him. Koharu's face morphed into sheer terror as he realized he wouldn't be landing on a body but the floor. _Thump._ The 2nd year and everyone else around just stared. Kenya, who had been amongst the witnesses, didn't know whether to laugh or sympathize. Now it was up to him and Shiraishi. They decided to team up and face him during practice.

"So how's finding out Zaizen's secret girlfriend going?" Chitose asked a resting Koishikawa.

The vice captain sighed. "What do you think?"

"They've failed miserably, leaving Shiraishi and Kenya to come together and corner him...something like that."

"Exactly."

The two grew quiet and watched the pair engaged in rallying.

"So Zaizen, are you doing anything after this?" Kenya asked.

"No, not that I know of"

"Sweet! Then we're coming over."

Hikaru stumbled over his own foot and sent the ball into the net. "What?"

Kenya scratched the back of his head. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Don't just invite yourselves over, senpai."

Pouting. Zaizen Hikaru was pouting. Koharu gushed over this as the rest laughed.

"Sorry," Kenya waved off a hand. "Didn't mean to make it seem like that."

"Unless you do have _something_ to do." Shiraishi implied. "Like you recently remembered you have chores."

"Unfinished homework."

"Babysitting Hotaru, which isn't a problem."

"Or..."

Hikaru raised a brow. "Or what?"

"A date." They stated simultaneously looking rather proud of themselves.

"Oh, now they've done it." Chitose snickered at Koishikawa's murmured remark.

"...What the hell are you talking about...?"

* * *

They ended up telling Hikaru about the whole thing on the walk to his house. He looked at them like they were idiots. Why would they assume he had a girlfriend? It wouldn't be impossible, no, but where did they get that idea? His mind drifted back to the conversation in the morning and a smirk crossed his face. _They are idiots._

"So that's what this is about." Hikaru said to no one in particular. "You all want to meet Alice. You could have just asked."

"Eh?! You do have a girlfriend after all?!"

"That's not the point, Yuuji~!"

"But isn't that the whole point of today though."

"Everyone just shut up."

"We're here."

They all stopped talking. Hikaru quickly unlocked the front the door and was greeting by a little body colliding into him. "Welcome back!"

He fondly patted Hotaru's head. "I'm home."

"Awwwww."

"Don't make me leave you out here."

Once the boys were all inside, they settled in the living room. Hikaru ventured into the kitchen for refreshments and snacks, and came back to his seniors huddled together. "Ahem. Do I even want to know?" The answer he got was nervous laughter.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase." Shiraishi was the first to compose himself. As expected of a captain. "Who is Alice?"

"Good question, Buchou. I was waiting for it." Hikaru set down the tray and turned to his nephew coloring on the floor. "Hotaru?"

"Yes?"

"Can you go get her?"

The little boy nodded and went to see if she was awake.

"...She lives with you?!"

* * *

Footsteps alerted her to someone approaching the room and the bunny decided to wait by the door of her cage. Without a moment to spare, Hotaru entered the room and walked over. "Sorry to wake you if you were napping, but ji-san said to get you." He said as he opened the cage. "Do you want to come out now?"

Alice nodded and jumped into his arms. She snuggled up against him and he returned the affection. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

Hikaru heard his nephew coming down the stairs. "Here she comes, senpai."

"Ah this is so exciting~!" Koharu could hardly contain his excitement.

The whole time they were waiting, Kenya and Yuuji wondered what Alice was like and Shiraishi began to think Alice was not human at all. To which Koharu said it was fine, human or not, as long as Hikaru was happy. From there the conversation turned weird and Hikaru wanted to leave. But he lived here.

Hotaru stopped at the bottom of the stairs and put the bunny down. "There you go, Alice! Ji-san's in the living room."

She hopped away in Hikaru's direction. When she reached him, she hopped into his lap, startling his seniors. They stared in shock at the little white puffball in their junior's lap.

"What the hell's that?!" Kenya exclaimed.

"If Kin-chan were here, he'd totally freak out!" Yuuji declared as Koharu agreed over and over.

Shiraishi blew off the shock and took a sip of water. Gently smiling down, Hikaru lifted up the puffball in his lap and turned her to face them. "Alice meet my senpai. Senpai, Alice."

"So it wasn't a girl after all..."

Hikaru placed her on the floor to let her get up close and personal with the others. First she went to Yuuji who petted and played with her a bit, then became held in a loving embrace by Koharu but jumped out when Kenya offered her a strawberry, and finally bounced onto Shiraishi's lap and stayed. She looked up at him, then down to his bandaged hand.

Kenya snickered. "It's like she's asking what happened."

Alice nodded, which surprised them.

"Eh?" Shiraishi was impressed. "Do you want to hear the story?"

Another nod.

"Is this bunny a genius?"

Hikaru smirked and took the bunny back into his arms.

"Well she _is_ a Zaizen."


End file.
